Russian forces take Ukrainian villagers across border, media says

KYIV, Dec 21 (Reuters) - ⁠Russian ⁠forces ‍have crossed the border with Ukraine in the northeastern Sumy region ‍and taken about 50 residents of ​a Ukrainian border village into Russia, Ukrainian media ​quoted the military as saying on Sunday.

Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne and the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet ​said Russian forces entered Ukrainian territory on Saturday night in the area ​of the village of Hrabovske.

Most of the local residents ‌captured from the village were elderly people, the media said.

Reuters could not ​independently verify the report. ⁠Russia has not yet commented on the matter.

Russian forces have ‌secured a foothold in several villages in Sumy region in recent months and many ‌towns have been subjected to shelling.

The head of ‌the Sumy region military administration, Oleh Hryhorov, said on Telegram that authorities had begun evacuating residents ‍of border villages who had earlier declined to be moved.

He ⁠did not identify the affected places but urged residents of border areas to agree to evacuation.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Pavel Polityuk)

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